It's never been more important to make sure people who work hard in difficult circumstances are recognized for their efforts. In that spirit, head coach David Shaw awarded scholarships to sophomore Spencer Jorgensen and fourth-year Thunder Keck Saturday night.

Keck has appeared in 21 games the past two seasons and played on defense and special teams. He has become a valuable starter on cover teams and has shown flashes as a pass rush specialist.

He arrived at Stanford in 2017 with almost no football experience. Defensive coordinator Lance Anderson said last year that one humorous example in a 2017 meeting was that Keck didn't know what "the flat" meant when he was told where to go in coverage.

Jorgensen was a freshman last season after getting back from a two-year mission and no one, probably including Jorgensen could have predicted he'd play in 10 games and have one of the best special team highlights of the season. He blocked a UCLA punt that Brycen Tremayne recovered for a touchdown.

It's well documented that injuries devastated the team last season and Jorgensen was one of the many first or second year players who had to take over roles on special teams. Special teams coordinator Pete Alamar recently praised Jorgensen's performance last season and Alamar expects him to play at a high level this year.